30 Ways to Wake Up Your Quiet Time!
Reviewed by Paula R. Kincaid, August 24, 1999
How many of us have a daily quiet time with God? And how many of us would like to wake up our quiet time, maybe find some new and exciting ways to spend time with God?
In 30 Ways to Wake Up Your Quiet Time!, Pam Farrel gives the reader practical ideas about how to make quiet time a fresh, new, exciting time spent alone with God.
Farrel begins her book by asking “Why we are supposed to have a quiet time with God anyway?” She looks to Jesus’ life to answer that question. It’s instructional, it’s relational, and it’s powerful, she says. “Before all the big moments of his earthly life, [Jesus] connected with the Father. Spend some quiet times looking up the passages cited from Jesus’ life to get a picture of how he spent time with God” is Farrel’s first suggestion for improving quiet time.
Some of Farrel’s ideas are as simple as praying a children’s prayer, like “Now I lay me down to sleep,” or using a children’s devotional or Sunday school lesson during quiet time to help the reader approach God with the heart of a child.
Other ideas require a little more time and energy. Farrel suggests creating a miracle scrapbook which should include any evidence of answered prayer, like photos, notecards, receipts, etc. “Whenever my faith becomes weary and I’m not sure if God can see me, our church, our family or our parachurch ministry through a crisis or challenge, I pull out that miracle scrapbook. I am reminded that while the obstacles might have changed or grown, God hasn’t changed, and he is able to handle the challenge,” she writes.
One of my favorite ideas would enhance not only the reader’s quiet time, but also affect a loved one’s Christian life. Farrel suggests that while reading the Bible through, the reader should mark it up to give to a teen or young adult. “Point out the verses that you think would encourage or strengthen your sons or daughters, godchildren, nieces or nephews, or grandchildren by highlighting, underlining and writing notes in the margin,” she writes. What a wonderful legacy to leave a child. Your faith, your trust in God, passed on to the next generation. Talk about a treasured family heirloom!
The great thing about Farrel’s book is that many of her ideas, like marking up the Bible, not only add meaning to the reader’s time with God, but also reach out to family and friends and strengthens their Christian life as well.
In a hectic world where there seems to be little quiet time, this book helps make the most of our daily time with God.